The last few weeks at school have been exam-making/exam-taking/exam-grading time. This means that students are not allowed to come into the teacher’s room at any point, and the teachers must go outside into the hall to talk to students..
Usually, when students want a teacher’s attention, they will come partly into the teacher’s room, bow in the general direction of the room, say the magic room-entering word, and then ask for/find whatever teacher they are looking for.
Not so during all-events-surrounding-exams weeks.
At this time of year, students must remain on the other side of the teacher’s room door. They don’t get to say the magic room-entering word, because they are not allowed to enter the room. Instead, they must stand outside and meow like cats for whomever they want to talk to. Because they must remain outside, they are further away, and some of the quieter students have to stand there for quite a while, howling the name of their desired sensei until someone takes pity on their plight and delivers the message. The students don’t actually stay outside the classrooms. That title was chosen for purely alliterative reasons.
The other day, a girl was in just such a situation. However, she wasn’t meowing for any teacher in particular; she just kept repeating, Sensei…Sensei…Sensei…Sensei…, over and over again in a quiet little voice, while all the teachers looked at each other like, Does she mean you or me?
Eventually, someone asked her to clarify who exactly she was looking for, and the meowing stopped. Until the next student came. These cats in matching uniforms will be able to enter the sacred space once again in a day or two, so they will again sound less like little lost kitties and more like their regular selves. Although I did find meowing rather endearing while it lasted.
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